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Question
#2219
Subject: Vacuum deposition rates, throughput and thickenesses, and their relative economic importance
What is a typical deposition rate, throuhput rate and total deposition
thickness for a typical large scale, commercial metallization
process/product? Are the economics of metallized films very sensitive to,
for example, the achievable deposition rate, such that equipment makers
and producers make large efforts to increase it?
Answers (links jump to full text of answer below)
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#2220
Author: Charles A. Bishop, C.A.Bishop Consulting Ltd.
Email:
Subject: The modern day metallizers will run up to speeds of
The modern day metallizers will run up to speeds of 1200m/min and coating thickness capability of up to an Optical Density (OD) of 4 which equates to a thickness of approximately 50nm. This usually means that the machine runs at less than the top speed for the highest OD coating & at the fastest speed for the lower OD coatings.
The newer machines have moved from 40km rolls to 80 km rolls & are working towards rolls of up to 120km in length.
Thus for these 120km rolls at the fastest speed the deposition time is only going to be around 120 mins. It used to be that at 1000m/min and a 40km roll the cycle time was aimed to be 1hr. This meant the source cooling, vent, clean, roll replacement, source maintenance, close, pumpdown & source warm up had to be achieved within 20 mins.
This was a reason for moving to longer rolls. It was harder to get speed gains on the 40 min deposition time but was a lot easier to gain time on the down time activities. By running longer rolls the proportion of non-deposition time was reduced as a percentage & hence throughput was increased.
So the answer to do the machine manufacturers do productivity development is yes. If only because they are competing for orders & so if they can show that their machine has a better throughput than their competitors then they stand a good chance of making the sale.
However do I think they are doing all they can, the answer is no. Some 10 years ago I helped develop a linear or slot source for the deposition of magnesium which had the equivalent deposition rate for aluminium of needing a winding speed of at least 2000m/min. This type of source, although known about, has never been developed for aluminium & so I believe a step change in aluminium deposition speeds could be achieved but hasn't.
Arguments put forward relate to materials difficulties with the crucible design. I would agree this needs some development time but I have seen evidence that would suggest this could be done if the will was present. I could be provocative & suggest that the boat manufacturers are even less enthusiastic about this type of source because it would obviously seriously affect their sales of boats & hence where is their incentive to help kill their own 'golden goose'.
Many of the applications of the aluminised polymer films is into the packaging industry where the margins are already small & thus anything that could be done to improve machine productivity or efficiency would help the metallizers margins.
One difficulty is always that many developments are only ever available on new machines & many companies cannot afford to reinvest unless the benefits can be demonstrated to be large enough. The machine manufacturers also prefer to sell new machines to retrofitting developments that would extend the life of a machine that would slow down the possibility of a new machine sale.
If you have any further questions or if you have a research project in mind and want to discuss it further please do not hesitate to contact me further.
Best regards
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